Your Thoughts/First Thoughts

You really don’t deserve this, Randolph. But here you go. Have a nice life.

1. Pat Shurmur put together a solid quarter of offensive play calling. Who knew? But then the familiar Shurmur re-appeared late in the fourth quarter. But then when you could feel the entire stadium clenching up, Billy Winn makes the most beautiful run I’ve seen in months.

2. And who knew Montario Hardesty was still on the roster? And John Greco?

3. Free Joe Haden. Haden clearly brought some badly-needed energy back to the Stadium. And for those Twitter jerks who criticize him, just remember that A.J. Green is one of the game’s three best wide receivers.

4. Free Sheldon Brown at least. For every mouth breather who only watches the ball, don’t celebrate Browns’ interception. Or, his crazy 160-something consecutive games played streak.

5. Free Josh Cribbs. Trent Richardson is clearly the future, but today’s Cribbs was the “transcendent force” Jim Brown was rambling about a few years ago. Cribbs opened up a crowd portal of excitement that hasn’t been heard in a long time.

6. Not to mention Johnson Bademosi and Craig Robertson added some much needed speed and energy to an otherwise lethargic special teams’ Kickoff unit.

7. Now about that Punt Return coverage.

8. And that fourth quarter zone defense.

9. But more importantly, the Browns hit hard on both sides, rushed the passer, rushed the ball and didn’t destroy themselves with stupid play calling.

Dave, I haven’t watched the game yet so I won’t comment on most of this but I did expect Joe Haden to lift the defense. To say that he shouldn’t be criticized however is a generosity that I wouldn’t agree with. From what little I have seen from today’s game, AJ Green continues to plague him. Yes, AJ is a great receiver; but Joe Haden was a top ten pick who gets paid to cover him and has yet to prove that he can consistently do so. Luckily, it didn’t end up being a factor in this game.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s certainly plenty to like about Joe Haden. He’s a very good tackler and closes well on the ball. He’s an energetic leader and he’s tough. No one has been harder on him than I have. He doesn’t change direction well and he doesn’t locate the ball well in the air. He often commits his hips to early and cheats with a sidestep as opposed to a backpedal. I’d love to see him improve and be worthy of the #7 overall.

Having Randy Lerner in the rearview mirror can only help this franchise.

I actually don’t know what to say,I pretty much expected the team to fold at some point. Don’t get me wrong I hope we win each and every game.but I don’t expect it. I told my wife after the game I don’t know how to feel,like I said I expected the Browns to blow it but we did the opposite. The team must have eaten their Wheaties at half time I guess. Great game.and now I know how to whatch the rest of the season…expect the worst,have no hope, and we will win. HEH.